Generally, wireless data communication between different devices is known and used in different fields of technology. In many fields of technology, it is desirable to replace or avoid wired data communication in order to alleviate the drawbacks usually associated with wired data communication.
Such drawbacks include, for example, that the physical cables or leads required for corresponding connections may pose a safety hazard in that they may interfere with human users operating the connected components. In particular, if many cable connections are present, managing the cables and ensuring that the connections are not inadvertently interrupted may become a cumbersome task. In addition to electric wiring, medical machines such as blood treatment machines may exhibit a number of other similar connections, for example, blood lines and/or medical fluid lines. Consequently, if many connections are present, a disconnection or erroneous connection may pose a more or less critical risk for the treatment and/or the patient.
In some environments, electromagnetic or other interference may negatively affect the wired connections. Additionally, connections between different devices and/or from a device to a wall outlet may restrict the placement of the devices with respect to one another and/or with respect to the outlet or outlets. Consequently, the electrical layout of the environment in which the devices are to be operated has to be configured for operation of the machines. However, often the electrical layout would have to be adapted as the devices change over time and/or if the environment changes (e.g., if the devices have to be moved from one room to another). In most cases, the electrical layout cannot easily be adapted, because of the necessary construction work associated with changes to the internal wiring of a room or building.
Moving devices around might require connections being interrupted and subsequently re-established in that cables need to be unplugged and plugged in again. Common networking connections might additionally require corresponding patching of connections at a central location (i.e. physically disconnecting and re-connecting of patch cables at, for example, a patch panel and/or a network switch).
In case of medical accessories that are designed to, for example, acquire physical data (e.g. pressure, heart rate, temperature, etc.) from a patient before, during, or after treatment, the use of a medical accessory that relies on a wired connection to other components very much restricts the mobility of the patient.
In some cases, while the patient might be restricted in some manner depending upon treatment or medical condition, the use of medical accessories attached to or otherwise carried by the patient might not require any particular restriction. For example, the medical accessory might facilitate monitoring of patient parameters over a longer period of time, in which the patient is generally present within the hospital, without requiring being connected to any particular machine or outlet.
In case of medical accessories, for example those designed to be operated by medical personnel, cost consideration are generally to be taken into account. While it might be convenient to provide each apparatus with a corresponding accessory it might be uneconomical or even prohibitively costly to do so. For example, some accessories might only be required for a fraction of the entire treatment time. However, if such accessories are fixedly integrated of otherwise permanently connected to a single apparatus, it is not possible to use these accessories with another apparatus, even if the accessories are not is use for certain periods of time.
In case of setting up a blood treatment apparatus for a treatment session, a medical accessory for acquiring operation data from medical components that are to be operably coupled to the blood treatment apparatus is typically required solely during the setup phase of the blood treatment apparatus (e.g. several minutes), but not during the entire treatment time (e.g. several hours). In such a setup phase, medical personnel typically use a data acquisition unit (e.g. an optical reader) in order to scan optical codes provided on replaceable medical components (e.g. blood sets, filters, containers, cartridges, etc.) before the medical components are operably coupled to the blood treatment apparatus. The optical codes may contain, for example, operation data that, once provided by the data acquisition unit to the blood treatment apparatus, may be checked for compliance with the type of apparatus or a treatment session to be performed. Similarly, the optical codes may contain data indicative of a medical agent contained in a concentrate cartridge or container, physical properties of a blood set, and/or operating properties of a filter. Generally, the blood treatment apparatus is provided by the data acquisition unit with the relevant data on medical components to be operably coupled thereto, thereby facilitating checking the data for compliance and signaling any issues, e.g. to medical personnel, before allowing coupling of the medical components to the apparatus. If all data meet the requirements, the medical components may be operably coupled to the apparatus and the treatment may be initiated.
If the data acquisition unit is fixedly installed in the blood treatment apparatus, the unit typically cannot be used during the entire treatment session, but only after the treatment is finished and the apparatus is set up for another treatment session. From an economical point of view, idle time of resources may be regarded as incurring avoidable costs.
Wireless communication may be used in order to provide the data acquisition unit and the blood treatment apparatus with a temporary connection, which may be closed upon completion of the setup phase of the apparatus. The medical personnel may then take the data acquisition unit, typically a compact and/or mobile device (e.g. a bar code scanner or a smart phone equipped with a camera and/or with an NFC data equipment), and use it to set up another blood treatment apparatus. In this manner, a single data acquisition unit (or a comparably small number of the same) may be used in regularly setting up a large number of blood treatment apparatus. In a clinical setting, for example, a single data acquisition unit may be assigned to a group of blood treatment apparatus and/or to an entire ward, team, or unit.
Wireless data connections may alleviate or avoid one or more of the above drawbacks of wired connections, but may entail other drawbacks.
One significant drawback of wireless connections is that wireless connections are typically more difficult to set up than wired connections. In the case of the latter, a user may simply use a suitable cable, identify the two devices to be connected (or one device and a wall outlet), and plug in the connectors located on each end of the cable. Typically, the connectors are configured to connect only to a matching socket in a single manner (e.g. orientation, male/female plugs, color coding, etc.), thereby ensuring a proper connection. In particular, there is very little chance for two devices being connected unintentionally, due to the devices having to be present and the user having to physically identify and connect the devices on-site.
Wireless connections cannot be established in the same way as wired connections, due to the lack of a tangible connection medium. In contrast, the transceiver units integrated into wireless devices have to be programmed and configured to connect with corresponding counterparts, wherein all devices that are intended to participate in wireless data communication with each other have to operate in accordance with the same communication protocols and standards and have to be configured in a manner corresponding to each other (e.g. requiring matching configuration data).
For example, the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) IEEE 802.11 standards include media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6, 5 and 60 GHz frequency bands. In order for a device to establish a data communication using WLAN, corresponding hard- and software components are necessary, as well as a configuration that typically has to be provided upon on-site integration of the device into a WLAN network and/or WLAN ad-hoc connection.
This configuration may include, for example, several technical parameters depending upon the local network configuration. In some examples, a user wishing to integrate a device into a WLAN has to provide the correct Service Set Identifier (SSID) or “network name” the local network has been given, the correct channel (corresponding to a particular frequency or frequency range) that the local network operates on, and—if used—the correct encryption parameters (e.g. a pre-shared key or other credentials) that are required by the encryption standard used (e.g. wired protected access (WPA, WPA2), wired equivalent privacy (WEP), etc.).
Depending upon additional network protocols, the user might have to specify additional networking parameters. For example, if the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) is used as the transport and network layer, then it might be necessary for the user to provide IP addresses for the device itself, a gateway, a router, one or more name servers (for the domain name system (DNS)), one or more proxies, and/or other devices, as well as further technical parameters (e.g. a subnet mask, etc.).
WO 2008/129344 (A1) describes a method for setting up a fluid treatment apparatus using a single and always accessible reader of information relating to replaceable components, which are to be mounted on the apparatus to perform the fluid treatment. A fluid treatment apparatus having a reader that is always accessible is also described. The reader may also be relied on to enter information other that those relating to the replaceable components, such as commands for the apparatus, patient related information, etc.
One significant factor is that the setting up of a wireless operating communication is a non-trivial task requiring some expertise in the field of wireless communications. Often, medical personnel operating the devices and accessories are not trained to be sufficiently proficient in setting up and running extensive networks of many devices and accessories that are linked in a wireless network. Further, even if the medical personnel were sufficiently proficient, or even if a supporting staff of technicians were available to fulfill such duties, the problem of securing safe operation of the multiple devices and accessories remains.
In day to day operations, typically many accessories need to be linked wirelessly to a number of devices, wherein a medical accessory may be, for example, associated to a first patient and linked to a first device (e.g. a blood treatment apparatus) in the morning. Subsequently, the patient has to undergo a different treatment and the wireless operating communication between the medical accessory and the first device is closed and a wireless operating communication to a second device has to be established later in the morning. In the afternoon, the medical accessory may be associated to a second patient undergoing the same or another series of treatments, again requiring several times establishing and closing communication with one or more devices.
In the above-mentioned example of a data acquisition unit being temporarily put into wireless communication with a blood treatment apparatus, the data acquisition unit may be used to set up a large number of blood treatment apparatus, all the while establishing and closing wireless communication with each apparatus for the time required to set up the apparatus.
All this time it must be ensured that the wireless operating communication is established between the devices and accessories that are actually intended to be linked together. In some cases, a number of blood treatment apparatus may be located in a single room and a number of patients undergoing blood treatment and each provided with their individual medical accessory (e.g. a pressure cuff) need to be taken care of, requiring being connected to a respective blood treatment apparatus and also requiring the medical accessory being put into wireless operating communication with the respective blood treatment apparatus. It is apparent that a misconfiguration of the wireless operating configuration (e.g., leading to the medical accessory of one patient being mistakenly put into wireless operating communication not with the corresponding blood treatment apparatus, but another one next to the correct one) may lead to potentially disastrous effects for the health of either patient being treated in connection with any of the affected apparatus and/or accessories. Therefore, it is imperative that a wireless operating communication is established only between the apparatus and accessories for which the communication is intended.
The above particularly applies to wireless communication between a data acquisition unit and a blood treatment apparatus, due to the importance of correctly setting up the apparatus. Also, if the data acquisition unit is required to open and close wireless communication with a large number of apparatus in a short time, an efficient, safe, easy to use, and reliable manner of doing so is necessary. Ideally, the data acquisition unit may accommodate multiple different technical means with which to acquire data (e.g. by optical scanner or camera, or by electromagnetic data transfer using RFID or similar). Further, the data acquisition unit may employ the same technical means in order to acquire configuration data necessary for establishing a wireless communication with a blood treatment apparatus and in order to acquire operation data from the medical components to be provided to the blood treatment apparatus. It is understood that the data acquisition unit may support multiple different technical means for data acquisition and communication at the same time, any one of which may be employed, also in a mixed mode (e.g. using RFID in order to acquire configuration data and using an optical QR code scanner or a camera in order to acquire operating data) depending upon the technical properties of the blood treatment apparatus and/or the (replaceable) medical components.
It is further obvious that the above-described effects and problems affect any device and any accessory potentially connected to a same network or to each other—regardless of the location or type of the device or accessory. Due to the wireless communication and, possibly, a common network providing a supporting infrastructure, a medical accessory may potentially establish a wireless operating communication with any suitable device on the network (e.g. irrespective of the location of the device), such that operation data, patient data, treatment data, or any other data may be transmitted on a regular basis and independently from the location of either device/accessory. For example, a physician may collect the history of the blood pressure and other patient parameters over a period of time where the patient is present within a hospital. During this time, the accessory associated with the patient and wirelessly linked to the device used by the physician for his monitoring of the patient's data, may transmit the patient data on a regular basis before, during, and after a treatment session. At the same time, the accessory may be configured to establish a wireless operating communication (also) with a blood treatment apparatus for the period it takes for the patient to undergo a blood treatment session, thereby providing patient data (also) to the blood treatment machine. All this requires that the accessory may be safely configured to establish and close wireless operating connections with different devices.
Another significant factor in setting up wireless devices is that typically the input of the aforementioned configuration data requires corresponding input and output components, for example a display, keyboard, etc. While some devices already necessitate such I/O components for their intended use (e.g. personal computers, tablet computers, etc.), therefore being equipped with these components in any case, some other devices may be operated without the need for any such I/O components designed for user interaction, therefore lacking such I/O components. Some medical accessories may be designed to merely be in data communication with another device in order to take measurements and to transmit the measured value or values taken to the other device without providing a display or a keyboard. A pressure cuff, for example, may be configured to measure the blood pressure of a patient and to communicate the measured values at regular intervals to a blood treatment apparatus. In order for the pressure cuff to operate, full-fledged I/O components are typically not required, except few simple components such as start/stop, on/off, reset, or similar buttons, and/or some indicators (e.g. lamps, LEDs, etc.) indicating an operating status of the pressure cuff.
A data acquisition unit may operate with or without the above-mentioned I/O components. In one example, a data acquisition unit is based on a conventional optical code reader typically comprising a suitable optical scanner configured to scan optical patterns such as bar codes or QR codes. The optical reader does not necessarily require the above-mentioned I/O components since the optical scanner may be used as an input device and the reader may be configured for use without an output device (e.g. in terms of a user interface). In this example, the optical reader may read configuration data in the form of a QR code displayed on a blood treatment apparatus, decode the configuration data, and establish a wireless communication with the blood treatment apparatus based on the decoded configuration data. Subsequently the optical reader is operably linked to the blood treatment apparatus and ready to acquire operation data to be provided to the blood treatment apparatus, typically until a pre-defined idle time is exceeded or until the optical reader is operably linked to a different blood treatment apparatus.
In another example, the data acquisition unit is based on a smart phone comprising a touch screen display as an I/O component (e.g. in terms of a user interface) as well as a camera. A data acquisition unit of this latter type may be configured (e.g. through a suitable computer software program) to provide similar functions as the aforementioned optical reader. A suitable software component may configure the camera to continuously provide images of potential optical patterns to be detected, such as QR or bar codes. Typically, the software continuously analyses the images provided by the camera and algorithms detect and decode any optical patterns included therein, for example a QR code displayed on the user interface of a blood treatment apparatus (see above).
Of course, the camera (and the relative software) may be selectively activated by the user; e.g. following pressure on a specific on/off button—either a physical button or an image on the touch screen. Alternatively, the smart phone may be equipped with NFC technology so as to communicate by proximity with the fluid processing medical apparatus, particularly with a corresponding NFC device included in the medical apparatus. The smart phone device may then establish a wireless communication with the blood treatment apparatus based on the decoded configuration data. Subsequently the smart phone device is operably linked to the blood treatment apparatus and ready to acquire operation data to be provided to the blood treatment apparatus, typically until a pre-defined idle time is exceeded or until the smart phone device is operably linked to a different blood treatment apparatus. A distinctive advantage of this latter example is that conventional and common hardware (e.g. generally inexpensive) may be used in connection with a suitable software component adapted to the individual application. Furthermore, in some examples, the smart phone devices may be provided by the medical personnel, for example if a respective user already owns a suitable smart phone device.
In cases where medical accessories lack I/O components providing input means allowing for the necessary input of configuration data in order to establish a wireless operating communication, the above-described processes and devices facilitate quick and easy setup of wireless communication.
Therefore, a mechanism is also required that allows for an easy, safe, and efficient way to establish a wireless operating communication between a medical accessory and a medical device, such as a blood treatment apparatus.